Dream of Your Kiss
by edenja
Summary: My Markiplier Dream. I literally woke up smiling from this dream. This is not a long story, just what I wanted to try and remember. PS: PURE PURE MUSHY STUFF INSIDE :D
1. May I Borrow This?

Alice swept her eyes around the room. It was a sty. What else could be expected when six gamers get together for a weekend? She sighed and began cleaning up the soda cans and pizza boxes. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She looked towards the sound and felt her heart jump in her chest for a moment. It was Mark. Of course it was Mark. She controlled her breathing, gave him a small smile of acknowledgement, and went back to cleaning up.

"Hey, Alice. Thanks. God, we're such pigs. Let me help you with that." Mark asked, his voice deep with grogginess. His hair stuck up wildly, eyes still puffy from sleep. She waved him away.

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind. I actually enjoy cleaning up. Go on into the kitchen. There's coffee brewing and there are doughnuts on the counter."

Mark shot her a crooked grin that made her knees tremble. "You're the best gal in the world. Thanks." He ambled into the kitchen and Alice heard him fumbling around for a mug. She calmed herself again and went back to work.

Alice worked up her courage. "Mark?" she called into the kitchen.

"Yep." he answered

"Mark, may I borrow your flip cam for the morning? There were some sea turtles nesting on the beach, last night, and I was wanting to capture some footage this morning before the local animal conservation comes up and ropes the area off. I would only need it for an hour or less, and I'll make sure to clean it before giving it back, and I'll recharge the-", but she was cut off with a finger being pressed to her lips. She had continued cleaning through her questions and never even saw Mark come back in the room with his coffee. She looked up at him shyly, having expended all of her courage in asking for this favor.

Mark smiled at her and put the camera in her slightly trembling hands.

"You may keep this camera as long as you need to. Take your time and enjoy the beach. I'm not recording, today. We're going downtown as soon as your brother and the other guys get up, and we'll be back later this evening. Have fun!"

She looked at the camera, then back at Mark's happy face.

Withtout thinking, she threw her arms around his neck in a quick hug, startling herself and him. Her face flushed a deep red as she let go quickly. "Ummm...sorry. Thanks again." She darted out of the back door and down to the shore, breathing hard, leaving a confused Mark standing alone in the living room.

She felt tears well up in her eyes with embarrassment.

WHY?! Why am I so awkward? Why am I so flustered around him? Why on earth did I hug him? She ran up the coastline as fast as she could, trying to get past these emotions. She wished she had never asked for the camera. She wanted nothing more than to hide in her room for the rest of the trip, never face Mark again. Being an exteme introvert was hard enough, but being an introvert who had feelings for someone was torture. It was a constant battle between a desire to be near them, and a desire to keep them at a distance so they couldn't see your awkwardness. But she'd have to return the camera at some point, so she might as well use it and try to redeem the rest of her day.

*********Author's Note************

I'm just trying to get this dream out there. There are going to be NUMEROUS grammatical and punctuation errors. I'm not writing well, I just want to write what's in my mind. :) Bear with it, if that sort of thing bothers you. Now...onward


	2. Lost

Mark stood in the now empty living room, coffee mug in hand, staring at the retreating figure of Alice.

Peter, Alice's older brother, had become a good friend in the past two years. They had met at a PAX event and hit it off immediately. They both lived in LA and regularly met up for collabs.

Alice moved in with her brother this past year, having just finished college and looking for work. Mark liked her at once. She was quiet and gentle-natured. He appreciated that. He could be energetic and manic in his videos, but in his normal life, he was rather subdued. With his busy schedule, though, he never had an opportunity to really get to know her. She was obviously shy, and she always went into her room when he came over to hang out with Peter and the guys. He didn't take it personally. That was just what made her comfortable.

She was pretty, but not in the gaudy, fake way of most girls her age. Petite in stature, she gave off an aura of gentleness in her movements. She wore little makeup and dressed casually, comfortably. That suited him just fine. High maintenance girls were nothing but headaches, in his past experiences.

When she had asked about the camera, it startled him at first. That was the first time she had asked him anything. He was more than happy to oblige. Then she hugged him...

He didn't react, but immediately sensed her embarrassment. Before he could say anything, though, she had apologized and shot out of the room like a bolt.

He walked over to the large, room length window of the beach house and scanned for her along the shoreline. He could just make out her silhouette in the distance, combing the beach for the sea turtles.

"Sea turtles." he though to himself, and smiled, sipping his coffee. She made pretty good coffee, too.

Alice was gradually coming down from her embarrassment and finding peace in the feel of the sand and the sounds of the waves. The beach was always calming to her. She slowed her pace and began to take in the scenery. The sun was making its ascent, casting shadows upon the reeds and the dunes. She finally came upon the sea turtles' nesting ground. She saw the grouping of eggs just under sand. Careful not to disturb the surroundings, she knelt down and began recording.

Eventually, people came in to rope off and put barriers around the nesting grounds. Alice made sure to record everything, as she found it fascinating and reassuring that such efforts were made to protect this endangered species. They were kind and allowed her to film, even answering some questions she had. This would be a great keepsake video for her nature collection. After they had gone, she walked down the beach for another half mile and found a secluded dune. She carefully stowed Mark's camera in her small tote and settled down on her back. She closed her eyes and just listened to the waves crash on the shore. The gulls were calling to one another, and a breeze came along, blowing her short hair across her face gently.

She thought about Mark. She thought about the hug. Alice decided she was not going to pursue anything but a small friendship with Mark, if he was even interested in being her friend. The "little" sister of a friend may not interest him in the slightest. Heaven knows he had more women than she could count just throwing themselves at him during conventions and expos. Yes, she thought, I'll just go about things as normal, and pretend this morning never happened. That's for the best. She smiled and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

Alice woke up with a start. The sun was high over head and her face was scorched by one nasty sunburn.

"Crud!" she said. She looked down the beach, which was now filled with tourists and locals. The ocean was brimming with surfers and swimmers. She checked her watch, It was 12:45! What on earth?! She reached down to grab her tote...but her hand grabbed sand. She looked over and the tote was gone! Frantic now, she leaped up and began digging in the sand. Nothing. It was gone. Stolen, most likely. Thankfully there was nothing valuable of hers in the tote...but Mark's camera was gone.

She felt herself die inside. Tears sprang up and she couldn't breathe. Mark's camera was gone. All of his footage, gone. She couldn't bear it. He had let her borrow it so willingly, so happily. He trusted her and look at what's happened. She fell asleep and it was snatched. She didn't want to cause a scene on the beach by crying, so she brushed herself off with shaking hands, took a deep breath, and began walking back to the house.

At least they wouldn't be back until this evening.


	3. Calm My Heart

Mark pulled the car into the driveway. He had left the party early, feeling exhausted from the long night before. He didn't like to bow out, but he just couldn't focus on anything or anyone there. It was loud, crowded, and honestly, smelled of sweat and alcohol. Not really his thing. So he left the others to it and made his way back.

The sun was just setting when he pulled in, gravel crunching under the tires. He hopped out and closed the door. Before he made it to the front door, he heard something near the back of the house, on the deck. He stopped and listened harder. It was someone softly crying. He walked towards the back quickly, worried. There was Alice, sitting on the stairs leading down to the beach, face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

"Hey, Alice? Are you okay?" he asked, making his way to her. She gasped and looked up at him, eyes red and swollen. Her face was streaked with tears. She looked away from him quickly and covered her face again, the crying now intensified.

"Hey, what is it? What happened? Are you hurt?" Mark asked, really worried now. He looked around the area but saw nothing amiss. He sat down next to her on the step. Very very gently he put his arm around her shoulders and felt her stiffen immediately. But he didn't back down. Smiling gently, he asked again.

"Hey, what's wrong? Please tell me, so I can help. I want to help. Nothing can be this bad."

She just nodded her head, refusing to look at him.

He waited patiently, letting her take her time. He didn't see any injuries, so she must not be physically hurt, which reassured him somewhat.

After a few minutes, she began to breathe a little more easily, but still refused to remove her hands from her face.

"Mark?", came a muffled voice.

"Yes?"

She drew a deep breath, uncovered her face and said tearfully, "I lost your camera, Mark! I fell asleep on the beach and someone stole my bag, and your camera was in it! I'm so so sorry, Mark! I didn't mean to fall asleep and I feel so terrible. I'll buy you a new camera, but I know that won't replace your footage. I'm so sorry! I understand if you're angry. You should be. You shouldn't have trusted me with it, and I completely agree with you for being upset with me. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm s-" and her words were cut off as he grabbed her into the tightest hug she had ever felt in her life. It literally took the breath out of her.

He said nothing, and neither did she. Eventually he let her go and said, "I was so scared you were hurt or something really terrible had happened. I don't CARE about some stupid camera. I'm just glad you're all right."

Alice bowed her head down, still unable to look him in the eyes.

"Look at me, Alice, please." Mark said. She shook her head, no.

He reached down and tilted her face up to his.

"Look at me." he said again, so very gently that it sent a shiver up her back. She looked, and saw two smiling eyes staring right into hers. His thumb brushed warm tears from her cheek. She felt her face press into his hand involuntarily. And then time stood still...

Side by side, overlooking a sunset that was casting its orange glow over the sands, Mark slowly, so very slowly, brought her lips to meet his. It was a whisper of a kiss, so gentle a breeze would pull them apart, but they held. Alice's heart beat so hard, she knew Mark could feel it, could hear it. It was then that she felt her timidness leave her body, and she wanted nothing more than to pull herself closer to this gentle man, to kiss him harder. But she did not. She held onto that first gentle kiss of her life, but allowed a sigh to leave her lips. In response, Mark pulled her closer to him, still gently kissing her lower lip, now placing delicate kisses on her upper lip, her nose, her forehead, and down again. She sighed once more and rested her head on his shoulder. He squeezed her to him, blissful in his own happiness.

Mark was never one to throw caution to the wind...usually. But it had always been in his nature to comfort those who were hurting. When he had seen Alice crying on the steps, nothing mattered to him except her. An instinct flared inside of him to protect her, to comfort her. He had never felt anything like it.

He cared nothing about the camera. But the fact that this sweet girl was so heartbroken over losing something of his, of what it might have meant to him, it flipped a switch in his heart. She wasn't sad that he might be angry at her, she was sad because she thought she had hurt him. He wasn't having any of that, he wouldn't let her believe that of herself.

Once he looked into her eyes...no force could have stopped him from kissing her. He needed it with every fiber of his being. He understood, now, why in those stories of his childhood Sir Lancelot would face certain death for his beloved. There are people you find in this world that just complete your heart. Here, nestled in his arms, was the rest of his heart.


End file.
